Strangers in a World of Skulls
by chief of RAGE
Summary: When Ruby is suddenly kidnapped and put into a twisted game by two evil goddesses, it is up to her to find a way back home. Meanwhile, her friends are searching for any way to bring her back safely. What adventures and things will our heroes find themselves in this new world? Note: This is part of a larger multiverse of mine. Explanation in prologue.
1. The Teaser

**Welcome!**

 **Fair warning, this is not going to be just a two series crossover between just Skullgirls and RWBY. I don't know what to set the category for if it's three ways.**

 **So this is based on a huge multiverse I got going that began with the characters of Team Fortress 2 crossing over into the world of RWBY through a teleporter accident. The source story is called ' _Mercs in Remnant'_ and is on-going while also going through a rewrite simultaneously (?). The short version is this, the TF2 mercenaries become professors at Beacon where they go through a bunch of crazy adventures with the RWBY crew complete with elements of both worlds mixed in. Also, there is a lot of fourth wall breaking** **. The fourth wall is broken so often, that it is quite literally a core element. Like the multiverse concept and the few beings who are aware of it.**

 **For story sake, this takes place in a separate timeline from ' _Mercs in Remnant'_ where the mercs are still teachers and the Fall of Beacon hasn't happened at all.**

 **Now the craziness spills into Skullgirls...**

* * *

 **Prologue: Two Bored Goddesses**

The goddess of time, Aeon, watched the scene playing out on her television with interest. Usually she'd be monitoring the progress of the latest Skullgirl, but this time someone else has caught her attention. The television showed a large battle happening between nine men and a team of teenage girls fighting against dark monsters of evil. However, the battle was not taking place in this world or is anything fictional, for it is taking place in a completely separate universe.

Being a goddess with mastery over time, she watched the not-of-this-universe event play out as if it were a television show, and in a way it really was. Super powerful beings like her had the privilege of knowing other worlds exist and observing them, but there was little else they could do but watch. Didn't change how entertaining it was though, brought about a nice change of pace from watching the Skullgirls over the centuries fail again and again. That, and she already knew how all the timelines except for the convergence one will play out since she was the goddess of time in this world, but she had no such power in other worlds. Only the ability to watch, as said before, and she enjoyed not having things spoiled right away due to her power.

The nine men were all mercenaries from a game called 'Team Fortress 2', and the girls were from a web show called 'RWBY'. They were together because this was one of those 'crossover worlds' that appear every now and then when the creators of both worlds decide to collab, and the goddess found that she liked it quite well.

Aeon absolutely loved to play TF2 and she loved watching RWBY being the literal goddess level otaku she is. So when she found that Gaben and Monty had joined their two worlds together to see how it would go, she was immediately hooked. How she wished she could do things like this with her other favorite series! The best she could do is making fanfiction, for despite being a goddess with enough power in her to see other universes, she was still technically a creation of beings greater than herself. As in her creators, Alex Ahad and Mike Zaimont. She did ask multiple times if it's possible for her to have more freedom in the multiverse, but they always kept The Trinity restricted to Skullgirls since they wanted to avoid a whole slew of legal issues and licensing to get a full on crossover.

The only reason why Monty and Gabe could do it was because they were practically considered gods in the real world anyway.

"Did the Skullgirl win yet?" An annoyed voice said, even though she already knew as well.

Aeon's head snapped up, and she turned to see her sister, Venus Lovelace the goddess of space, come into their shared room.

"Oh, you're just watching one of those dumb shows again." Her significantly more scantily clad sister said.

"It is not dumb, sister, it's a thrilling crossover series by Valve and Roosterteeth." Aeon stated in her usual calm way. Unlike her sister, Aeon was dressed properly except for her entire torso. Mostly because she had a literal hourglass figure that composed her torso. Fitting since she was the goddess of time.

"I'm just messing with you, sister." Venus nudged her side with a playful smile. Mischievously, she moved closer to her sister to mess with her further until Aeon scooted away.

"Not now, I want to finish this episode before monitoring the Skullgirl... again." She sighed. Venus pouted, and sat next to her to see what her geeky sister was so interested in.

"What's so good about this crossover anyway?" Venus asked. Unlike Aeon, Venus was more rebellious and loved action, always wanting to hurry up the destruction of the world against her Mother's wishes.

"One of my favorite class-based shooting games is crossed with my favorite web show!" Aeon exclaimed as loud as her soft voice can make it. "Now please, either you sit down and be quiet, or leave."

Venus saw that Aeon was determined to keep watching, and she knew how seriously her sister took this geek thing of her. Just like Aeon, the goddess of space resented how she had no power over other universes. Though in Venus' case, she was far more displeased about it because you'd think someone who can control all matter would be able to interact with other universes at a whim, but that's sadly not how the multiverse works. Don't get it wrong, she respected Alex and Mike for creating her and the universe her family rules over, but she just wished they had more interesting things happening. Like her sister, she was getting bored of waiting for all the timelines to converge into each other and really wanted to do something other than watch and wait. Honestly, Mike and Alex weren't technically stopping her from doing anything to the world. All they did was create it, and it was actually Mother who was holding her back. Well, Alex and Mike and their development team were responsible for creating the timelines for the characters, but they left the ultimate fate of the world to Mother who was waiting patiently for the right time, whatever that means.

While Venus grumbled to herself, Aeon had a thought come to her mind as she was finishing up the episode. What if one of the RWBY girls come into her universe? The thought has been in her mind before, but now it's resurfacing again. The more she thought of it, the more she wanted to do it.

"Sister, do you think we can bring a girl into our universe?" Aeon asked Venus.

"Hmm? You don't mean one of the girls on the screen, do you?" Venus asked, to which Aeon nodded her head. "My, this is something I'd never would've expected from you. Guess a bit of my rebel side is rubbing off on you." Venus smiled.

"Not exactly..." Aeon began. "I just want to see what would happen if we bring a girl from there into this universe." She said, pointing at the TV right when it showed a closeup of Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY.

"Aww... my dear sister really is becoming more like me!" Venus cooed, smiling at her sister's shy look. "Wanting to crossover universes by herself like she's from the real world..." She teased further, but then she got more serious about it. Now this was a potential change of pace that Venus was more than happy to take. "Now smuggling someone in from another world is hard, but not impossible..."

"Wait, are you really suggesting we go through with this?" Aeon asked in a more alert tone. "I didn't seriously mean to-"

"No no, you suggested it and you want to do it." Venus interrupted her sister with a smug look on her face. "It's either you act or not at all, sister, and I want to act. I'm tired of doing nothing around here..."

"Well, what do you suggest we do then?" Aeon asked, sounding very unsure about this as if she was afraid to get in trouble with their creators. Venus' response was to just open a portal that literally had sharp teeth lining it that led to the Void.

* * *

 **The Void Between Universes**

The two goddess-sisters stealthily approached the portal that was the entrance to Remnant, where RWBY takes place and also where the crossover Aeon was watching earlier takes place in for most of its duration. The two were hiding behind a chunk of totally random Void debris, being very careful to not be seen otherwise they be sent right back to their universe.

"Okay, it looks like Gaben and Monty aren't around..." Venus said as she scanned the surrounding space. The goddess had a wolf is smile on her face for she was excited for this naughty mission she was on. "I haven't felt this alive since forever!" She exclaimed to herself. "So, we're just gonna drop in and take everyone, right?"

"No! That would be way worse than just taking one person! We shouldn't be doing this at all..." Aeon trailed, glancing around in case there was someone around. "Besides I said a single girl."

"Ugh, and here I thought you wanted to do something exciting for once..." Venus sighed. She really wanted to bring in the whole crew to see how much trouble she could stir up, but she guessed one girl was excitement enough. For now... "Look, I'm gonna drop into that portal and take a single girl out, then we'll leave. Happy?"

"I don't know... but as long as we're not caught, I suppose. But how are we going to sneak her in without anyone noticing?" Aeon kept on worrying, much to Venus' annoyance. However, before Venus could answer, a voice called out.

" _I_ noticed."

Immediately, both sisters turned around, and their jaws dropped. They had been caught by none other than Monty Oum himself. Venus cursed to herself as her sister wasted time worrying, and Aeon kept on worrying about what Alex was going to do to her, maybe taking away her access to watching the multiverse...

"What are you two doing here?" Monty asked. He knew who they were. The legendary animator was a fan of Skullgirls himself.

"Mister Oum!" Aeon exclaimed, all the sand in her hourglass body dropping to the bottom as an equivalent to her heart dropping. The goddess then began stuttering out stuff in a strange mix of fear and fangirling over his work, but Venus quickly shut her up with a hand over her mouth.

"We're here to take one of your girl characters." Venus stated defiantly in the face of a being above her in so many levels. To her, this was just her rebelliousness taking over and it felt great to stand up.

"You mean put them in the Skullgirls world?" Monty asked. Venus nodded while Aeon still shook, a slight rattling sound heard from the vibrating glass of her body. "Hmm... sure. I don't see why not." The man shrugged.

Now this caught the two goddesses off guard so badly, that they froze in place. Even Venus who was so eager to keep on resisting had lost her composure there.

"I'm sure something awesome is going to happen if we drop one of my characters in there..." The man thought, thinking of another interesting crossover even though he already had one ongoing. "Sure, take Ruby. I'll talk to Alex and we can work something out."

The sisters cannot believe what they were hearing right now. Monty Oum was going ahead and making this a crossover for them! Aeon was so excited that she couldn't even express other than looking dumbfounded, and Venus was slightly disappointed that this was way easier than she thought it was going to be. Still, she had the satisfaction of looking forward to what possible mayhem could happen if that girl was dropped in, she guessed.

Looking to each other, both sisters nodded their heads, and grinned.

Venus knew what to do right away, and she had a grin plastered firmly onto her face as she summoned her own toothy portal instead of using the one already there.

* * *

 **Remnant**

It was a tiring day for Team RWBY. Just earlier, they fought off a huge wave of tough Grimm with the gladly accepted assistance of their professors, otherwise known as Team Fortress or RED Team. The girls had done really well, especially with the mercenaries being there to provide healing and much needed support in battle.

Currently, everyone was crammed into Sniper's Camper Van and had just arrived at the mercs' staff house. The mercenaries, being the gentleman they are, let the girls ride in the back while a lot of them sat on the roof which they were completely fine with. The huntresses were so exhausted from the fight, that they had fallen asleep in the van while the mercs are still as active as possible due to their years of experience fighting battle longer and bigger than these. Even the Camper Van was running fine, and it was severely damaged and scratched up at places.

When they arrived at the mercs' house, the first thing the sleepy huntresses did when the door was opened was run into the living room and plop down on the comfy sofas, falling fast asleep.

"Heh, look at 'em..." Sniper chuckled. The mercenaries found it rather endearing as all four of them had crammed together on a single sofa. They genuinely liked the girls and considered them friends, and the mercs took good care of their friends.

"Heavy will bring down blanket for them..." The Russian giant smiled.

"I'll tell Ozpin they'll be staying with us tonight..." Spy sighed with a soft smile.

So they got all the necessary work and things they wanted to do sorted out before retiring tonight. Before they did though, there was one last thing they had to do, and that was to unload the stolen dust they stole from some White Fang who stole it from some gang who stole it first! It's a big inception of stealing, but the mercs planned on selling it to a gang, then stealing all that gang's shit before getting the authorities to capture them with the contraband. That way they'll look good to the public while being rich! Like, they're still good guys either way, just good guys with shady business practices. Their reputation with people outside of Beacon wasn't really that high anyway, but then that's all the more reason to make themselves look better, right?

While they were carrying the illegal goods past the sleeping Team RWBY, a massive tremor soon shook the entire house. Immediately, the mercs dropped everything and struggled to stand on their feet.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" Soldier yelled in the most cheerfully wrong way possible right now.

Team RWBY was immediately awoken by the shaking, and they fell to the floor.

"What's happening!?" Ruby yelled over the loud noise of the tremors and thing crashing.

"IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!" Scout yelled. He appeared to be right as the shaking indeed felt like one. What, with everyone and everything flying off the shelves and hitting the ground...

Then, it wasn't an Earthquake at all as the roof and second floor of the house was ripped open to reveal a huge Lovecraftian looking portal above them complete with teeth lining up the interior. Everyone looked on in shock at what appeared to be a just as large nightmare fuel looking creature with multiple eyes and multiple other indescribable body parts just all over the place. An even bigger shock came when the creature's body shifted into the vague shape of a woman, and it began giggling.

At once, Team Fortress and Team RWBY scrambled for their weapons, but they soon froze in place when an even bigger shock overtook them. The creature then shifted into the full form of a scantily clad woman with glasses, dark hair, and large teeth lining up the sides of her torso. It, or rather she, licked her lips and giggled some more at the silly mortals below.

"Hehehe... just messing with you~" The giant girl above teased. None of the people below her could form any words, just silent shock. Without warning, the slender hand of the giant woman reached down and two long fingers plucked Ruby right out of there!

"I'll be borrowing her..." She uttered out as Ruby scrambled to be put back down.

Immediately, everyone snapped out of their shock and picked up their weapons, but it was too late. The woman had turned back into the grotesque nightmare thing after taking Ruby back into the portal, and it disappeared without a single trace.

* * *

Venus pulled her hand out of her portal and out came an unconscious Ruby Rose. Being a goddess of space with the permission of Monty, she totally mindfreaked this girl's friends into thinking a giant monster came and took her when in reality. Ruby wasn't in the hands of a giant evil goddess, that was just an illusion. She was just in the hands of a regular evil goddess.

"Alright Aeon, I got her." Venus grinned to her sister who was visibly getting excited. "Thanks Monty. I think we'll be going home now. Bye!"

* * *

 **Should I keep the story tags as RWBY X Skullgirls or should I change it to Team Fortress 2 X Skullgirls? Or is there another option that I am not aware of? Like, seriously, what do I categorize a three-way crossover?**


	2. Welcome to New Meridian

After kidnapping Ruby from her world, the two goddesses went straight back to their native world with their catch. They had to take good care of sneaking into their room though, for if Mother were to find out what they'd done she would flip out in ways that not even the goddess of space and time can comprehend. Lucky for them, Mother wasn't home though they were still wary of what if she found out. The only comfort they had was that Mother herself rarely kept an eye on the timelines as that was left to her daughters. Mother herself spent her time doing her motherly duties to the sisters while patiently waiting for the final timeline to occur.

"Alright, now what do you want to do with our newest toy?" Venus asked her sister, eyeing the unconscious Ruby with the delighted look of victory on their rather easily done accomplishment. Aeon did not respond at first, for she was still couldn't believe what they'd done and was honestly just kind of fangirling right now. Collecting merchandise and souvenirs here and there is one thing, but getting the _actual_ character? That's something legendary and coveted right there.

"Sister? Hello?" Venus asked, getting annoyed with Aeon's shaking and slight squealing in place.

"O-oh! Right! I uh, just got preoccupied there..." Aeon laughed nervously before getting to the matter at hand. "Hmm... we want to place her in our world, but we can't have her in any of the existing timelines." She mused, before coming up with a simple idea. "Let us create a whole new timeline just for her."

"Obviously, that's kinda what we decided on anyway..." Venus rolled her eyes, just wondering how clueless her sister, a goddess for crying out loud, could be sometimes. Aeon paid no mind to her sister's snarkiness though, as the thought of a fresh timeline where the fact that she was a goddess who knew everything wouldn't spoil it for herself. So the sisters came together, and easily created a new timeline in, well, no time at all. It was really simple and easy for the goddesses for obvious reasons...

This new timeline starts like any of the existing ones with Marie in New Meridian and the various other candidates wandering about the city after her, but as said before, the sisters did not know how this one will end. With the new timeline ready, Venus got ready to dump Ruby into the world of Skullgirls... until Aeon stopped her.

"Ugh, what now?" Venus groaned, casting a lazy look to her sister who seemed worried like how she was earlier.

"What about her friends?" She asked.

"What about them? There's no possible way for them to come and help her." Venus reasoned.

"True, but we still just kidnapped a main character, and they all saw us do it! Don't you think it's going to mess things up in that world without her and that they saw us?" Aeon reasoned back. "I understand you like to cause trouble Venus, but remember that we have to return the girl once we're done with her. Who knows how long that will take though? I'm afraid-Mphm!" Aeon was suddenly hushed when her sister put a finger on her lips.

"One, you worry too much. Two, hold her. I'll be back..." With that said, Venus carelessly tossed Ruby into Aeon's arms before stepping into a sharp toothed portal, disappearing from the scene. Aeon held her arm out in an attempt to stop her, but it was too late. She would've worried about what Venus was up to, but then she was made aware that she was holding Ruby Rose herself. The fangirling continues...

* * *

 **Remnant, Mercs' House**

Everyone remained where they stood when that monster took Ruby, too stunned to even move. It was so sudden, so strange, and so unexpected that nobody knew how to react. How could anyone react to it? It's not everyday when some kind of eldritch entity snatches your friend and takes them to God knows where! Unless you're the mercenaries, but those guys don't count since it's Merasmus making the eldritch monsters do it and it only happens once in a while.

The total time elapsed between Ruby's abduction and disappearance to now was exactly one minute, but it felt like months only because the shocked brains couldn't comprehend anything after witnessing that.

"...WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?" Yang managed to break the silence with a loud scream, snapping everyone else out of it as well. "RUBY!" Cried the blonde in a shrill shriek of despair.

"I-it just took her!" Weiss shook.

"Why did it turn into a girl?" Blake trembled, that being the only thing she can think of saying now.

The mercenaries themselves weren't much better, and if anything they were actually more angry than dumbfounded/surprised out of their wits. While the remnants of Team RWBY tried to understand what just happened while also despairing that Ruby was taken without even a fight, the nine members of Team Fortress were groaning and complaining in anger that Venus just kidnapped Ruby _and_ destroyed their freaking house! It took a while to break this place into their comfort, but then this bitch comes in and literally breaks the place! It was infuriating, and soon their anger was beginning to rub off onto the members of Team RWBY.

Just then, before they can make up any plan to save Ruby despite not knowing a single clue about where she could be, another huge teeth filled portal opened up, and the same female figure who took Ruby peered into reality. Recognizing the figure, Teams RWBY and Fortress grabbed their weapons and pointed up at her.

There were no sounds of gunshots, or any other sound of combat though. Venus just 'fixed' the world. With only the snap of her fingers, Venus disappeared as fast as she appeared and left the teams to whatever they were doing before. The house was totally fixed as if nothing had ever happened, and everyone was down in the living room like how they were when they returned from the mission. Everyone except Ruby, of course...

"Man, that was a tough fight..." Yang yawned, getting comfortable on one of the mercs' couches alongside the other members of her team.

"Yeah, but we pulled through and that's what matters." Blake said, also as exhausted as her teammates.

"If only Ruby wasn't on that student exchange trip to Mistral. She would've loved us fighting together as a team." Weiss said, to which they all agreed. Within a short time, the girls of Team RWBY minus the R fell asleep on the comfort of the mercenaries' couch, content with a job well done and a much deserved rest at the end of it.

However, the mercenaries weren't as positive feeling as the girls...

"What in Sam Hill just happened?" Said the resident Texan man of science for the whole of his horribly confused team.

* * *

Venus returned as quickly as she left, stepping back into their shared room.

"Alright, I made up some random excuse and fixed that house I wrecked. Happy... now?" Venus trailed, raising a legitimately uncertain brow at Aeon for the normally quiet and somewhat shy girl was taking pictures of herself and the unconscious Ruby. Upon noticing her sister had returned, Aeon had frozen in place in the middle of a shot of Ruby and her having their shoulders across each other as if they were best friends, even if Ruby was obviously not conscious.

"Uh... souvenirs?" Aeon nervously laughed, taking this one last picture of her and Ruby before getting back to business.

"Right... anyway, I made sure her friends don't suspect a thing. They think she's on a student exchange program." Venus explained to her sister. "So let's stop talking and get this thing started already!"

* * *

 **New Meridian**

In a dark alley in the backstreets of downtown New Meridian, a girl is unceremoniously and ungraciously dropped onto the hard floor. The poor girl was totally unconscious, unaware of how or why she was here. If she had been awake, she'd have seen two girls looking down at her with rather devious smiles on their faces. Aeon and Venus were quite content with what they pulled off, and now the sisters were eager to see what kind of trouble this girl could stir up.

"Have fun now!" Venus yelled down before she closed the teeth-lined portal.

A mere moment later, and Ruby Rose of Remnant wakes up to find herself in her current surroundings.

"Ugh... my head..." She groaned.

There was a sensation in her head that she could only describe as feeling like someone took a chunk of her brain out. The pain itself was little more than a headache, but it was just so disorienting to her since there was no memory of what happened mere minutes ago. Ruby stood shakily on her feet and looked around the alley, massaging her head to ease the strange sensation. Almost instinctively, she felt behind her lower back for where her baby, Crescent Rose was holstered and breathed a sigh of relief upon feeling the cold yet warm to her fingers metal of the weapon.

"Where am I?" She managed to say upon realizing that this was most definitively _not_ the mercs' house.

That was the last location she remembered she was at before now. It was clear and obvious to her that she was in a city since she could hear the sounds of cars and people from either side of the alley, and especially since that was the biggest source of light for her. There was definitely the odd shapes of cars with their headlights rolling by, and she could also see the silhouettes of people against those lights.

"Weiss? Yang? Blake? Professors? Anyone!?" She called out, but got no response from anything at all. It appeared like she was alone in the alleyway with no one else but her. Well, there was a homeless man in a martial arts outfit that she found sleeping beside a punching bag with eyes, but Ruby decided to let him be and continue to the street.

It was like walking down a dark tunnel with a bright light at the end, and Ruby had to shield her eyes once she was fully exposed to the lights of the streets. Once her eyes adjusted, it became clear right away that she was indeed in some city, and deep downtown for that matter. Deciding to find out where she was once and for all, she stepped out into the light of the street.

Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary so far, just older model looking cars and people on the street at a glance. So, in a bid to find out where she was, Ruby turned around, and-

*CRASH*

...walked into someone.

"Hey, watch it kid!" A gruff male voice yelled. The walk-in had both of them stumbling back with only the other person falling on their back.

"Oh! I'm sorry sir! I didn't mean to... to..." Ruby trailed.

Her eyes had gone wide, for the man she just accidentally knocked down was no ordinary man as far as she was concerned. The person she just knocked down wasn't a Human or a Faunus, but rather a full on wolfman. He looked just like a wolf except in the shape of a Human! The head was that of a wolf, his hands were clawed, his feet were paws, he was for all intents and purposes a wolf who walked and spoke like a person! He was even wearing clothing in the form of suit tailored made to fit his proportions.

"What are you looking at? Damn, you got my suit dirty..." Groaned the wolfman as he picked himself up and dusted himself off. "Out of the way! I got things to do..." He growled at her before rudely shoving her aside and walking right along the direction he was earlier.

"...bump into you." Ruby finally finished. She was just so caught off guard by the encounter, that she didn't even hear any of the things he was saying to her.

Ruby ended up wandering around the streets aimlessly after that encounter. People with animal features were not unheard of on Remnant since the Faunus exist, but people who literally look like walking animals? That's a little much for Ruby, and she just needed some time to take it in. But there was so much more to take in than just that wolfman she bumped into. This whole city was just… strange.

She didn't notice it at her first. but other than the wolfman there were all sorts of people who were plain weird looking to her. A lot of people she saw appeared to be plain Humans and some looked like regular Faunus, which she was glad for, but other people looked like walking fish, cyborgs, vaguely demon-like, and have things Ruby can't even describe. Near the center of the city she could see an unnecessarily massive skyscraper that towered above every other building and was easily taller than any building she's ever seen in her life. Airships that resembled blimps can be seen against the night sky, and speaking of which, the night was also how she knew that she wasn't in Remnant anymore. There was no shattered moon in the sky.

There was so much for her to take in, and so much to wonder about.

Just where in the world was she? Was she on Earth, the mercenaries' home universe? Possibly, since there was little to nothing in this city that she recognized, but she thought the mercs said one time that there were just Humans only on Earth. Maybe she was in an entirely different world altogether?

So many questions but no answers to them. There was one thing that Ruby was certain about. She was alone in an unfamiliar city with none of her friends in sight.

She continued to wander around the darkly lit streets with these questions on her mind, wary of meeting any people here since for one: Ruby wasn't really one to go out and meet new people anyway, and two: she was afraid of what the people of this world were like.

"Well hello there, little lady..." A male voice called out to her. Ruby yelped when an arm was suddenly wrapped around her and a total stranger got up in her personal space. Turning her head to look at whoever this was, she saw that it was a rather tall man with dark brown hair, mustache, and thin beard. "Fancy seeing a cute gal like you out here tonight." The man said, putting his other hand on Ruby's face and pulling her closer to him. Whoever he was, Ruby got increasingly uncomfortable and angry as this man was proving to be quite the pervert.

"Get off me!" Ruby demanded, struggling to break out of his hold.

"Whoa there! No need to be so aggressive sweetheart..." The man said with a grin that Ruby hated. It was the same kind of grin that people who think they're better than you make, and she had little tolerance for that.

"Hey!" Another, this time more deeper male voice yelled. Whoever the voice belonged to, it instantly made this pervert lock up in fear before running away from the area. Ruby was rudely dropped to the ground when he ran, but she was at least glad that he wasn't around anymore.

"Creep..." She muttered out as she watched him leave before turning to her savior. "Hey, thanks a lot for... helping, me..." This city just kept getting weirder, because the deep manly voice apparently came from this young girl in a schoolgirl's uniform that barely fit her. The uniform exposed her belly, the buttons struggled to stay together, her skirt was dangerously short due to how it was too small for her, she had some rather large thighs, her hair was jet black and highly stylized, and she had red eyes. This girl didn't look to be much older than Ruby's age, but why did she sound like a man?

"No problem!" The girl smiled, reaching an arm out to help her up.

...or not.

The girl spoke in a decidedly _not_ manly voice. Instead, she sounded like how she looked, that being a girl of course. Hesitantly due to being weirded out by the voices, Ruby took her helping hand."But you should really thank Samson for that. He's the one who chased him off after all."

"It was nothing, kid." The same gruff voice from earlier said, but Ruby didn't see where it was coming from. Only that it was coming from the nice girl who helped her up.

"My name's Filia." The kind girl introduced herself. "What's yours?"

"I'm Ruby Rose." Answered our huntress. "It's nice to meet someone who's friendly around here." She said in relief, but then Ruby couldn't help but awkwardly try to look behind Filia for the source of the male voice.

"Um, what are you looking for?" Filia asked.

"Oh! Sorry, but uh... if you don't mind me asking, where's that voice coming from?" Ruby asked politely, to which the response she got caught her off guard. It wasn't so much of a response more than it was this mysterious voice telling Filia something, though it still shook her because she didn't know where it was coming from.

"Alright, come on kid. We're wasting time here." The gruff voice said.

"Just wait, Samson, I'm talking to someone here." Filia said, seemingly speaking to an invisible person as far as Ruby is concerned. "Sorry about that, Samson can be a little impatient." Filia gingerly laughed.

"Right, but who and where is Samson?" Ruby asked, wanting to put an end to this mystery once and for all.

"Hmm? Oh yeah! Sorry, but when you get used to having Samson around like me, it's easy to forget where he is." She gave a sly smile, before rotating her body around just enough for the back of her head to show. "Samson, be nice and introduce yourself." She ordered. To Ruby's horror, this nice and somewhat normal girl had a huge mouth on the back of her head! It wasn't just a mouth either, but a face with only no nose. There were two large completely yellow eyes on her dark hair, and the mouth was full of razor sharp teeth. It also seemed to have total control of Filia's hair as it would sometimes make Filia's hair move around in tiny tentacle looking locks. The worst part? IT COULD TALK.

"Humph, what am I, a dog?" Samson grumbled, his yellow eyes locking with Ruby's silver ones. "Yeah, yeah, hi..." The face greeted not too enthusiastically, waving a large tendril of black hair as a lazy greeting. "Can we go now? Time's a wasting!"

"Samson, I said be nice!" Filia scolded her hair. "She's one of the only nice people we've met and you're going to be rude to her! I'm sorry Ruby, but Samson's a little grumpy." Filia explained as she turned back around to face the huntress. Only to see that Ruby had passed out.

This was too much for our huntress, and Ruby had fainted from this weird encounter. Once again, in the span of an hour, Ruby had fallen completely unconscious.

* * *

 **Alright, decided to leave this story here in this crossover section since the focus will be on the Skullgirls cast and Ruby... for the most part. Not sure on details but we'll see as it progresses. Also, official title change.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Luigi is cool: I'll just keep it here.**

 **Madlice in Pyroland: I knooooooooooooooooooooooooow!**

 **The Singaporean Squid Brother: 100% with MiR since the mercenaries are already involved. Thanks for the support, m8.**


	3. A New Friend

_"Come on kid, let's go! She ain't gonna wake up anytime soon."_

 _"But we can't just leave her here!"_

 _"Why not? She'll be fine! Now come on, the Skullgirl ain't gonna fight herself."_

 _"Let me at least try to wake her up first... Ruby? Are you okay? Wake up!"_

Ruby began stirring. Her whole world was dark for her eyes were still closed, but she could hear two voices talking to each other, one male and the other female. She felt someone gently nudging her side and slowly began to open her eyes.

"Ugh... what happened?" Ruby groaned, her vision not fully restored to her just yet. Her eyes felt a little tingly, and so she rubbed her eyes in hopes of being able to see again faster. She didn't think the two voices she heard earlier were real, dismissing them as a dream since she thought she was back at the mercenaries' place now. "I dreamed I was in a crazy world where wolf people exist and girls had huge weird talking mouths on the back of their heads..."

"Well... I guess that really would be weird, huh?" The same female voice from earlier responded.

Instantly, Ruby's eyes were wide open. She didn't recognize the voice as anyone she knew, but it was a lot like that girl from her dream. Only to see it actually _was_ the girl from her dream when she opened her eyes! It took a moment due to her eyes needing time to adjust, but eventually they focused on the exact same girl she last saw before fainting. The girl, who she remembered was named Filia, was crouched down beside her with a glad look across her face at seeing Ruby was okay.

"...yeah." Ruby blinked at seeing that she was real.

"You trying to say something about me, kid?" Filia's hair, Samson, spoke as if offended. Much to Ruby's confusion and horror, he was real too. "You know I got feelings too!"

"Don't worry Samson, she's just freaked out... _like everyone else..._ " Filia said, muttering that last part out. "Here, let me help you up." She offered her hand to Ruby, who was hesitant to take it. The huntress almost shied away from her hand as if she were afraid Filia was going to hurt her, but she accepted the help anyway after Filia gave a reassuring smile.

"Thanks..." Ruby said once she was on her feet again. She took a moment to dust herself off, and check her surroundings. Again to her dismay, she was still in the same dark cityscape that she was in before passing out. This world was very real. "Um, sorry about fainting like that. I'm just uh... new here. That's all." She said as an actually perfect valid excuse.

"It's okay, Ruby. You're not wrong about the whole having a mouth attached to my head thing being weird anyway. Parasites like Samson aren't too common, or very popular..." Explained Filia, her eyes looking up though there's no way for her to see Samson without a mirror.

"Oh, well I'm sorry for calling you weird, Samson." Ruby apologized.

"Yeah, no problem." Said the parasite in a not very caring way at all. Now can we go now, kid? We ain't gonna find the Skullgirl talking to strangers like this."

"Alright Samson. Sorry Ruby, but we got to go now. It was nice meeting you though!" Filia then began walking down the street towards downtown where the super huge skyscraper was. Ruby couldn't help but watch her as she left. It wasn't only because Samson was staring right at her and waving a strand of hair as a not very caring gesture of farewell, but also because Filia is the only person Ruby knew here. Knew isn't exactly the correct word since she's only been with her for about ten minutes, but combined with how friendly she is and how she's the only person she talked to, Ruby thought it might be a good idea to stick with her.

"Hey wait!" Ruby yelled as she ran to catch up with her.

"Run kid! She's gonna keep wasting our time!" Samson yelled with little hair tentacles flapping about.

"Huh? What is it, Ruby?" Filia asked upon turning around, wondering what she wanted while also giving Samson a stern look that he can't even see. Ruby stopped just shy of her, hesitating again since she wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Do... do you mind if I stick with you for a while? You know, because I'm new here?" She nervously said.

"Out of the question. Nope, sorry kid. Filia and I got some business to take care of, and we can't have you in the way." Samson the hair parasite answered rudely in an attempt to ward her off.

"Samson!" Filia yelled at her own hair. The parasite started grumbling to himself, but he at least decided to back down for now. His host was not pleased with his lack of manners, but that did not make him care about Ruby at all. "Sorry about Samson again, but you want to stay with us?" Noticeably, Filia didn't look too enthusiastic about the idea either.

"Y-yeah... I seriously have no idea where I am. Like, I am telling the truth right now." Ruby answered truthfully once again. Filia raised a brow at what Ruby just said. "I don't even know the name of the city we're in right now. I don't even know _how_ I got here."

"Wait... did you lose your memories too?" Filia asked. "Because I don't remember how I got here either! I just woke up in an alley one day with Samson and I can barely remember anything else before that."

"Oh no, I didn't lose my memories. I remember everything except for how I got here. One moment I was relaxing with my friends, and next thing I knew I'm here." Ruby explained. It wasn't anything too complicated at all.

"Oh wow... you really are new here, aren't you?" Filia was actually quite surprised by this revelation.

She couldn't help but worry for Ruby since she was the only person they've met who was actually really nice, only to find out that she's totally lost as well. Filia didn't know her way around the city herself due to her memory loss, and though Samson has been a huge help, she felt that having another person with her couldn't possibly hurt.

"Sure! You can stay with me and Samson. I think we can use all the help we can get anyway." Filia gave a nice friendly smile, while Samson felt betrayed about Filia not listening to him.

"What!? B-but, Filia! She's-"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic Samson! How bad can it be to have her tag along?"

"But I- she, ugh! Fine, whatever. She can come with us..." The parasite sighed in defeat. "Can we go now? The Skullgirl is still out there and you're busy talking to strangers."

Filia agreed, and soon the trio began walking towards downtown. Ruby stuck quite close to Filia as they got deeper and deeper into the city, the unfamiliar sights and people of this world made her a little wary of what other weird things she'll find. So far the vast majority of the people Ruby has seen so far appear to be normal Humans with a few Faunus-looking people here and there, but every now and then she'd see someone weird like a literal fifteen foot tall giant, a red skinned woman with demon horns to match, and someone who looked straight up like a walking crocodile.

Ruby's jumpiness at the sights on the streets did not go unnoticed by Filia and her hair, and it made Filia wonder just how new this girl was.

"Sooo... where are you from?" Filia asked to start up some conversation while also getting some questions answered.

"Um, Remnant." Ruby answered, still looking around at the strangeness of the city.

"Remnant? Never heard of it before."

"Me neither, kid." Samson added. That already told Filia a lot. Admittedly, she didn't know too much about Samson, but she knew that Samson knows a _lot_ of things. If he didn't know what this Remnant place was, then this girl must either be from some foreign country or some quiet backwater community.

"Well... I don't think anyone in this world does." Ruby answered a little shyly as Filia tilted her head at what she just said.

"Um, what do you mean by this world?" Filia asked.

"It's a long story..." The huntress sighed.

* * *

 **The Trinity's Residence**

"Interesting... she has already met one of the other candidates." Aeon watched Filia and Ruby's interactions, closely monitoring them should anything interesting happen with their newest toy. "Did you hear me, sister? Ruby has met Filia."

 _"Yeah, cool..."_ Her sister muttered out. "When is something going to happen? I'm already bored..."

"You must be patient. It takes time for things to happen, and she has only been in this world for... less than thirty minutes." Aeon said. "Besides, character interactions are necessary to establish an interesting story for our timeline here."

"I prefer something more exciting..." Venus groaned. She definitely did not look very entertained right now. Both sister's were in front of the television they use to monitor the world, with Aeon properly sitting up with fresh popcorn in her lap and Venus lazily laid down on her chest. "Can we watch something else? Or we could go to that other world and establish our dominance..."

"Maybe later if Monty lets us, but I don't think it's very likely. Now please, I am trying to watch Filia and Ruby bond."

"Ugh... fine."

* * *

 **Downtown New Meridian**

Well... Filia didn't quite know what to say about Ruby's story. If Ruby wasn't so nice and genuine sounding, she would've just dismissed Ruby as some crazy person living in a made up fantasy land. There was way too much detail and elaborateness in Ruby's story of what Remnant was like and how she was a student at some academy built for training students to fight against monsters. Despite all this, she couldn't quite believe that a person from another world was standing beside her right at this very moment. Maybe if Ruby had some solid proof that she was from another world then Filia could believe her, but for now Filia was happy to be helping a lost and friendly stranger.

Samson obviously did not believe a single word that Ruby was saying. He quietly dismissed Ruby as a lunatic who they should've left behind, but Filia was quick to shut him up.

"Wow, it must be really rough for you then..." Filia said solemnly, understanding of Ruby's plight since though she didn't quite believe Ruby was from another world, she did feel for her when she said that she has no friends here.

"Yeah... last thing I remember was going to my professor's house with my team, and then I wake up in some dark smelly alley here! I don't know how long I've been here, but I really miss home already..." The huntress said sadly, almost sniffling as if she was going to cry. If she had some of her friends here, then this whole experience wouldn't be that bad. If anything she would have seen travelling to this world as a cool adventure between dimensions, but this adventure is turning out to be pretty sucky since she was taken here completely without her consent and knowledge. This kinda thing makes people upset, obviously...

Ruby's depressed mood was starting to get to Filia. Even if Remnant wasn't a real place, it made Filia wonder just how much Ruby seriously believed it was real. Was Ruby just a delusional girl? Or is she telling the truth? The answer wasn't clear in Filia's mind yet, even if Samson who literally takes up most of her head space believed Ruby was just crazy. Whatever the truth was, Filia saw that Ruby was in distress, and so she couldn't help but give her a friendly pat on the back to make her feel better.

"Well, look on the bright side! At least you have us!" Filia beamed with a friendly smile. "I'm sure you'll find a way back home, Ruby. And you know what? Samson and I will help you!"

"Really?" Ruby said, no longer looking as sad as before.

"Yeah, really!?" Samson blurted out, obviously displeased with his host's decisions.

"Hush Samson, and yeah! After Samson and I beat the Skullgirl and wish my memories back, then maybe we can use it to help you find a way back home."

"Thanks Filia..." The huntress' sad face formed into a thankful one, happy that Filia who's by all means a total stranger is kind enough to help her.

Maybe being in this world wouldn't be so bad as long as she stuck by Filia, but Ruby did have a big question about this world that Filia hadn't answered yet. She already told Ruby that she was currently in a city called New Meridian, but there was something Filia and Samson constantly kept mentioning that bugged her mind.

"Um... hey Filia? If you don't mind me asking, but what's a Skullgirl?"

...

Out of nowhere, Filia had stopped right in her tracks, and slowly turned to Ruby with a questioning look. Neither her or Samson said anything, only staring at Ruby as if she were stupid. The glaring question in both of their minds right now, was how could this girl possibly _not_ know what the Skullgirl is? Everybody and their mother knows what the Skullgirl is! Even Filia knew who the Skullgirl is, and that's without Samson telling her.

"You're joking right?" Samson asked plainly.

"Uh, no. Why? Did I say something bad?"

"Ruby, how could you not know what the Skullgirl is?" Filia asked, fully turning to face her caped companion here.

"Maybe because I'm not from this world..." Ruby muttered out nervously, digging the tip of her shoe into the sidewalk. If Samson wasn't attached to the back of Filia's head, the two of them would definitely be staring at each other in surprise. "I was serious about the whole being from a different world thing, you know..."

"Wait, so everything you said is true?" Ruby nodded her head for an answer, sending Filia's mind into a big ole loop.

Either Ruby was telling the 100% serious truth, or she actually _does_ have her memories lost and replaced with this Remnant land she was talking about. The latter was very unlikely because that would be just dumb, and Filia was slowly beginning to realize that maybe Ruby really was a little more than just lost in a city.

* * *

 **The Mercs' House**

The mercs had gathered in their garage/armory/lab/lounge, yelling over and arguing about what the actual fuck just happened earlier. They would have done this out in the living room, but Team RWBY was fast asleep on the couch and they didn't want to disturb them. Despite all their yelling and the usual way they spoke to each other, the one thing they could agree on was that some mysterious woman barely dressed in anything just kidnapped Ruby through some kind of eldritch portal.

Even weirder, the same woman came back and fixed their house, and then wiped the memories of Team RWBY clean! The house was exactly as it was before she ripped the roof open, but then the girls don't even remember what happened to Ruby at all and they think she's out on a student exchange program or some shit.

"Gentlemen, we have got to get her back." Spy announced over the chatter, getting silence in the room as everyone turned to look at him. "I do not know who that woman was, but the one sure thing we all know is that she has taken one of our students, one of our friends..."

"How are we gonna get her back? None of us ain't got a clue of where that babe went!" Scout said, sounding a little more worried that the sexy Venus was gone instead of Ruby.

"Well... considerin' how she used some kind of teeth portal, I'd say she might be in a different world, boys." The resident engineer amongst them suggested. "Call it a hunch, but if that lady can just fix our house up and wipe away memories and replace 'em with new ones is anything to go by, then I'd say we ain't dealing with no regular person here."

"That's bloody obvious mate..." Sniper scoffed. "But are you tryin' to say that Ruby's been taken by someone like that Gabe Newell character floating around in the Void?" Sniper asked. This did send a slight chill into each of their spines though. Gaben was powerful beyond comprehension, and the fat man himself has implied multiple times that he's the creator of the their homeworld. If Ruby's been taken by someone as powerful as him, then the chances of them getting her back weren't very high.

"I'm not saying she is, but it is likely..." The Texan said. There was a moment of silence in the room as everyone thought about it. Should they really let Ruby go? The woman did say that she was 'borrowing' Ruby, if what she said could be believed.

It was then decided that fuck no. They're getting Ruby back, insanely powerful goddess of evil or not.

"LET'S GET LITTLE GIRL BACK!" Heavy yelled with his fist pumped into the air.

"" **YEAH**!" The other mercs screamed in agreement.

"Yes, gentlemen! Now, we need a plan..." Spy began. "I suggest we-"

"GO INTO THE VOID AND KILL ALL THE COMMUNISTS!" Soldier yelled while waving his fully loaded Rocket Launcher around like an overly excited idiot. Of course, everyone thought that was a terrible plan and Heavy and Demo restrained him back to his seat.

"Right... anyways, I suggest we send a small expedition out into The Void. Only one man should do, otherwise people will get suspicious of so many of us being gone..." He trailed, looking back at the corner of the garage where they have all the illegal stuff that they had taken from the bad guys and were keeping it hidden. Among the items were several bags of stolen money and dust, so as you can imagine it could get pretty bad if someone caught them with this stuff.

"Mphmm Hmmm mperh?" Pyro asked.

"Yeah, how come we can't just make up an excuse for why all of us are gone?" Scout asked, still sounding like he worried about not seeing that hottie again more than Ruby's disappearance.

"Well my dear Scout, it's because we have already used every trick in the book. Literally, I think we may have even more excuses than what is even in the book..." The Frenchman said, pulling up a short book about excuses. "The headmaster is not going to fall for our tricks forever, so with only one of us gone we can excuse it as a personal issue on Earth that must be dealt with."

"But we all want to go find this girl and bring her home." Heavy said, gaining the approval of the other mercs.

"I know my friends, but we simply cannot risk getting caught with some of our more... questionable activities. We may never be able to even show our faces in this world again should things come to that..."

Spy casted another glance towards all the illegal stuff they have yet to stache with this time all the mercenaries understanding. They liked working here at Beacon. Sure, this may be a world where evil monsters threaten civilization and people have superpowers, but their jobs here were so much easier and pay quite well, and dare they say even enjoyable with all these new friends they've made here. If the academy found out that they've been doing some less than legal things, they can expect to lose their jobs. That wouldn't be so bad if the mercs didn't genuinely care for the students under their care here at Beacon, which is precisely why they want to bring Ruby Rose back.

"Alrighty then... which of us is gonna hop into the interdimensional teleporter?" Engie asked. At once, everybody raised their hands. Admittedly it wasn't surprising, but that didn't stop the boys from arguing with each other over who's more qualified with travelling dimensions, which honestly none of them are.

"Listen fellas, I'm clearly the best choice for this job. All I got to do is find that babe, use my charm on her, and convince her to give Ruby back after I bang her." Scout said confidently, immediately getting a bitch slap from Heavy for being stupid.

"Listen up you piles of garbage, I am clearly the best choice for this mission! It is my God given duty to spread democracy and freedom to the poor unfree people of... EVERYWHERE!" Soldier claimed. He was then immediately assaulted by everyone throwing stuff at him for being even more stupid than Scout.

"Alright, alright, calm down fellas!" Engie called over the noises and arguing. "Listen boys, I know we all wanna find our girl, but arguing about it ain't gonna help us find her any faster. So allow me to suggest a little proposition, how bout we all draw sticks?"

All the mercenaries looked to each other, and for once, agreed to do it. Engineer opened up the garage door just enough for him to slip under it and went to get some twigs for them to use. Shortly after, he came back and placed the sticks into a cup, nine in all including himself.

"I'm sure y'all know how this goes, shortest stick gets sent through the teleporter. Everyone understand?" Engie asked, to which they all nodded in confirmation. "Alright boys... may the best man win..."

* * *

 **Oh damn, I wonder who the lucky mercenary's going to be. Until then, one wonders what kind of adventures will Filia, Samson, and Ruby have together as they travel deep into New Meridian. Who knows? Maybe they'll meet some new people, maybe they'll get into some fights. Well, if you understand the nature of Skullgirls, then I think you have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen next chapter.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **pre74: They'll all be coming up soon my man. Just wait for the foreseeable future, and they'll be here in no time...**

 **JanSolo: The RWBY moon doesn't work like our moon. Our moon has one side always facing the planet because it's gravity or some shit is locked so that it doesn't rotate, but RWBY's moon _does_ rotate which is why it looks like it's normal in some shots and shattered in others because it is rotating like a planet.**

 **Doctor Homicide 157: Alternate my dude.**


	4. A Painful Encounter

**New Meridian**

It was still late at night in the grand city of New Meridian. Neon lights of bright signs advertising whether a building is anything from a casino to a restaurant filled the night, alongside so many streetlights that the stars were not visible in the city. All these lights however, and still some spots in this massive cityscape are as dim as a lightless night. Many alleys lay covered in darkness where thay may or may not contain dangerous or shady characters. From one such dark alley, two bright blood red spheres shined through the shadows. Blood red eyes.

It was pitch black in the alley with nothing except these rather menacing eyes gazing out to the comparatively brightly lit street. There was nobody on the street not including an occasional car rolling down every now and then. Save for two distinct characters, two girls, one dressed in red and black and the other in a barely fitting school uniform. The menacing looking eyes narrowed on the two, or more specifically, on the girl in the school uniform.

"F-Filia...?" The figure lightly gasped in a feminine but somewhat gravelly voice. "Filia..." She said once more.

The girl was a little pudgier (or rather thick) then she remembered, and she last remembered Filia having blonde hair and not black. Despite these differences , there could be no denying it. This girl was Filia. At once, the figure began crawling her way through the darkness of the alley, reaching for the street where Filia and that other girl she didn't know were.

Suddenly, she let out a pained yelp as it felt like nails were being driven into her head. Probably because they were since she had said sharp objects stuck all over her body, but this was more than just the pain of that. Red sparks of electricity flashed around, and she clutched her head in pain.

" _They look like suitable meatbags..._ "A disembodied male voice echoed within her very mind. The very sound of that voice filled her with rage, made evident by how she dug her fingernails into her own head, drawing some blood. " _Looks like you have a chance to prove your worth, Subject Painwheel."_

"Go to Hell!" She yelled in defiance at the voice.

" _Humph... how disobedient."_ A surge of electricity ran through her whole body, and Painwheel gritted her teeth to keep from screaming out in pain. " _Attack them. Obey me. Your resistance to my control is futile."_

Another rush of powerful red electrical energy shocked her body, and this time she screamed in total agony.

* * *

"...So this Skullheart thing can grant any wish?" Ruby was instantly filled with hope when Filia had finished explaining what the Skullgirl and by extension the Skullheart is. After learning that an entire multiverse exists, Ruby could totally believe that what Filia's saying is legit in this world. On Filia's part, she still had slight doubts about Ruby being from a different world, but how none of what she explained about the Skullgirl rang a bell to Ruby was a little worrying.

"Yep. It's pretty cool, right?" Filia smiled. "Samson and I were looking for it when we bumped into you. Right Samson?"

"Yeah, kid..." Her hair responded in a somewhat unenthusiastic tone. "Kid wants to wish her memories back."

"Which is exactly why Samson and I are gonna beat the Skullgirl and take the Skullheart!" His host said with utter enthusiasm.

Ruby looked on in wonder at how confident Filia looked about this mission of hers. If anything Filia said about how powerful and dangerous the Skullgirl was true, then it didn't sound like an easy fight at all. However, Ruby couldn't help but feel that with her current situation, a wish to get back home wouldn't hurt at all. But Filia was such a nice girl though. Ruby really wanted to go home, but she felt really sorry for Filia and her memory loss issue.

"Wow... well, mind if I help you guys out?" Ruby offered with an assuring smile.

"Of course! We can sure use all the help we can get, and maybe we can ask for two wishes! I can get my memories back, and you can go home!"

The two girls had only known each other for at most an hour and they are already showing great trust in each other. They may be total strangers to each other, but they both have their own problems they can somewhat relate to and sympathize with. Ruby having no way to get back home, and Filia's near total memory loss.

"Then it's settled! I, Ruby Rose, swear on my duty as a huntress to help you get your memories back!" Our huntress swore proudly, assuming her 'leader' stance with her hands on her hips and the like.

She was certainly feeling better about being displaced now that she had a friend to hang with. Filia was also feeling much better for the same reason. Don't get it wrong, she appreciated Samson's company (even if she doesnt have a choice considering how he's stuck into her skull), but it's nice to have a nice friendly person to travel with.

"Thanks!" Filia giggled, deciding to play along even if Samson is visibly getting more agitated about having to listen to these two girls talk. "Then I, Filia-"

" _ **RAAAAAAAAAGGGGHH!"** _ Something roared from an alley across the street. It came so suddenly that it scared both girls into jumping in fear. They got so startled, that they hugged each other without even thinking about it.

"W-What was that!?" Ruby yelped.

"I don't know..." Filia answered nervously. "But it sounds like trouble..."

Looking across the street where the source of the sound came from, something crawled out. Something that horrified both Ruby and Filia. It was a brown haired girl dressed in what is pretty much rags, but she was _very_ messed up. She was pale, just enough so that you could see her veins showing through her skin clearly, and she was shiny enough for her ribs to be visible. Running along her arms was a row of nails that looked quite painful, and she wore a brown mask with two glowing red eye holes that was unsettling to say the least. To top off this horrifying appearance, she had a huge shuriken looking blade attached to a 'tail' that looked like it came directly from the base of her back.

Based on how she moved, it was clear to both girls that this person was in severe pain as a result of her appearance.

"Whoa! Uh, hey, are you alright?" Ruby asked with legitimate concern, even if this new girl was incredibly scary looking.

"FILIA!" The monstrous looking girl screamed, her mask ripping open to reveal her mouth. The shrill scream was enough to make Filia and Ruby cringe in fear again. The feeling of dread only got bigger when the girl was suddenly shocked full of red electricity, forcing another roar of agony and anger.

"Get ready kid! I don't think we can run from that thing!" Samson yelled, honestly startled himself with this monster.

"Got it Samson! But why does it know me?" Filia wondered as she took up her fighting stance. Ruby was hesitant though and she kept her weapon holstered in an attempt to talk her down.

"Hey! Wait a minute! There's no need to-GAH!" The huntress was nearly clocked in the face by an anger filled punch had she not reacted in time and jumped back. "Alright, looks like we have no choice then..." Ruby muttered, spinning Crescent Rose around to its full scythe form.

 _'Only an hour in this new world and I already got into a fight...'_ She sighed mentally.

Filia was seriously surprised by Ruby's weapon as she was not expecting her to have something like that. This temporary distraction proved to be a painful one for the monster girl has punched her in the gut so hard that Filia actually flew back from the force of it.

"Filia!" Ruby yelled.

She gritted her teeth and faced her opponent, but was caught off guard when she sounds her massive blade tail at Ruby. She barely reacted in time when the sharp blades made contact with the base of Crescent Rose, and Ruby found that despite her gaunt appearance this girl was _waaaaay_ stronger than she looked. Our huntress grunted through clenched teeth as she struggled to hold her opponent back, which wasn't working at all as her boots skidded across the pavement. What's more is that it was quite unnerving being so close to the terrifyingly angry face of this girl.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Painwheel screamed right into Ruby's face.

Rearing a fist back, she aimed for Ruby's face but missed since Ruby was quick enough to dodge. Realizing that she wasn't going to win this pushing match, Ruby broke away and launcher herself back with three shots from Crescent Rose to help her get away while also dealing damage to her opponent. The first concussive round struck the girl on the arm while the other two were blocked by her tail. The sudden pain of getting shot only served to make her even angrier, and though Ruby has fought some kind of scary monsters during her time at Beacon, she can't help but feel more afraid of her than any Grimm she has ever faced.

Filia returned to the fight at this point and took her turn against this monster girl. Ruby would've joined in to help, but she stopped a moment to gaze in wonder at how Filia fought. She honestly didn't expect much from Filia during her short time with her, but Ruby took it all back when she saw the ingenious way she and Samson worked together to fight. Filia by herself is just a normal girl who can punch and kick like anyone else, but with Samson, she is able to move around quickly using her hair or strike at her opponents with an array of weapons formed out of her own hair. For example, Painwheel slashed at Filia with her claws only for Filia to use Samson's tendrils to safely get out of the way before counter attacking with a blow to Painwheel's because Samson formed a literal fist of hair.

Painwheel did not take too kindly to any of this pain, and any damage done to her only makes her even angrier with no signs of slowing down. Filia came in with a simple high kick that landed perfectly fine, but when she tried to follow it up with Samson forming her hair into scissor blades it only ended in a devastating dropkick after Painwheel slipped under it. The monster girl followed up her counter with a series of quick but ruthless fury induced punches and kicks to poor Filia who couldn't fight back from how intense and fast the blows were. As a result, Filia was forced to use Samson to cover up and block as much damage as she could.

At this point Ruby decided that she probably done a little more watching than fighting, and carefully aimed her scythe at Painwheel. She chambered a fresh concussive round into the gun and aimed for her head in hopes that she could end this quickly. It was a little difficult to line up the shot since Painwheel was moving so much, but she was able to get the crosshairs just right and fired the shot. Ruby grinned when she took the shot, but the grin was soon wiped away by what happened next. At a reaction speed that rivaled Ruby's, Painwheel ducked as the bullet was only a single inch away from hitting her and glared her furious red eyes at Ruby.

Once again, Ruby was struck with fear and gulped when those eyes focused on her. For whatever reason, Ruby laughed nervously and gave a shy wave at her as if she thought Painwheel was just going to let this go. Of course she fucking didn't, for Painwheel reacted by grabbing Filia by the hair, or Samson I guess, and flung her straight at Ruby javelin style as a living projectile. She was able to dodge her own friend in time, but what she could not anticipate was just how quick Painwheel closed the gap between them. In mere seconds, Ruby was once again face to face with those red eyes of hatred. They glowed with such intensity that Ruby briefly had a red sheen on her face before Painwheel began her assault.

If watching Filia struggle to defend herself against Painwheel's brutal beatdown wasn't enough evidence to Ruby, then surely Painwheel's own beatdown on her would teach Ruby the definition of pain. She struck quick and violently, fighting in a way similar to Filia except with more agility and faster attacking. This time around, Ruby was beyond shocked and grossed out when Painwheel literally had black spikes come out of her skin to attack. Again, it was similar to how Samson was used as a weapon except this was far more horrifying since these spikes erupted straight out of her body. It was very difficult for Ruby to fight back since Crescent Rose is not an ideal weapon to fight this close and personal. The long reach of the scythe served no use with Painwheel being close enough to punch Ruby, so Ruby thought it was time to pull back and gain some distance so she could fight back. That wasn't easy as Painwheel stuck onto her like glue, and it was getting even more difficult to defend herself as she beginning to use her blade tail to assist in this quick and furious attack. Ruby couldn't block all these attacks up close, and soon she began taking some serious hits once Painwheel managed to slip through.

Her only saving grace was when Filia jumped back into the fight and landed a successful flying kick to Painwheel's belly. Now that Filia was back in the fight, Ruby had a much easier time. Both girls went in aggressively and hoped to pin Painwheel back much the same like how she did to them. It seemingly worked as Painwheel switched from offensive to defensive after taking a couple hits from Filia and Ruby at the same time, and was now slowly pulling back while using her large blade tail to cover herself from attack. Unlike how Ruby's scythe was large and unwieldy in very close combat, Painwheel's blade proved to be quite effective in use this close as she was even managing to counter attack with her claws by using her tail to cover.

Ruby had the bright idea of coming up behind her and attacking there so that they would have the advantage of attacking her from both sides. That tactic worked as Painwheel was taking even more hits from having to try and cover up from multiple angles, her rage only building...

 _ **"RAAAAAAGHHH!"**_ The scarred girl roared with enough intensity to stun Ruby and Filia.

When they were unstunned, they found Painwheel to be covered in an eerie red aura that distorted her body a bit, but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that Painwheel was even _stronger_ now. The moment Ruby tried to continue her attack and slashed at her, Painwheel merely dodged and grabbed the scythe. Struggle as she may, Ruby was nowhere near strong enough to take the scythe back, and Painwheel pulled her to prickle her up good with body spikes. Ruby's aura had dropped dnagerously low and she yelled out in pain, before Painwheel unceremoniously tossed her up and slammed her across the street.

A trash can was suddenly slammed over her head by Filia using Samson to hold it, but it did absolute dick to Painwheel. She dodged a hair drill from Filia before spinning the blade on her tail like a saw and swinging it at her. Filia was fast enough to dodge the dangerous blade that can easily cut her half, but she was now on the run for Painwheel was hot on her heels. During this whole attack, Painwheel roared and yelled incoherently in rage.

"Samson! Do something!" Filia yelled over the sounds of Painwheel's angry ramblings.

"I got it, kid!" Her hair responded. At once, Samson extended her hair out so much that it was now a pair of jaws complete with teeth. Painwheel, and honestly Filia as well, did not expect this at all and did not react fast enough to dodge when Samson's jaws closed around her. His host fell to her knees due to how awkward it was for her to stand up with this weight on her head, the closed sack of hair violently wiggling around with the occupant's muffled screams of pure hatred loudly sounding out from it.

"Huh... not what I was expecting, but okay." Filia shrugged.

Samson's only response was a cocky grunt as he focused on squeezing Painwheel into submission. A few seconds passed before anything happened, but it wasn't a good thing for Filia or Samson. To her horror, Filia watched as Painwheel slowly forced Samson's jaws open and stuck her long tail out. There was no possible way for Filia to move out of the way due to how she was stuck with Painwheel literally in her hair, and she got a full on faceful of the cold hard metal. The blow was so powerful that she was knocked all the way back into the wall of a building with poor Samson taking most of the impact. The world was shaky and dizzy, Filia could barely focus on the approaching monster girl as birds flew around her head. The only thing she could focus on were the two blood red eyes getting ever closer to her, and though she was stunned and confused, she could feel dread fill her body.

Painwheel wasn't in her super beast mode state anymore, but anger visibly surged through her body. She stopped just in front of Filia and stared down at the defeated girl.

"F-filia..." She managed to say through her anger.

Filia blinked when she said her name. Something wasn't right. Other than being at the mercy of a freakish girl, Filia couldn't help but feel like this girl was someone she knew before. Her vision became clear again and she carefully examined the mask of the girl, but was unable to recognize anything. Out of nowhere, Painwheel began yelling out and clutching her head, falling to her knees.

"N-no! You can't control me! Get out of my head!" She screamed, but it wasn't directed to Filia though. A surge of electric energy similar to what they saw earlier flashed through her body once more, and Painwheel screamed out in pain as her sharp claws extended to full length. Filia tried to crawl away, but her back was already against a wall, and so she helplessly looked up at the screaming girl.

*WHAM*

Painwheel suddenly stopped screaming, and fell to the side with her hands clutching her head again. This time in pain from having the blunt end of a scythe whack against her head. She wasn't unconscous, only really stunned and hurt enough as to where she was done fighting. There's not much else to say other than Filia staring blankly at the suddenly defeated Painwheel before looking up to her savior.

"Whew... glad that's over with..." Ruby sighed happily. "Are you okay, Filia?" The huntress asked, giving her hand out to help.

"Y-yeah..." Filia answered, gladly taking up Ruby's hand. She had a little trouble getting lifted up as the much more petite Ruby had trouble with Filia's weight. "Are you alright, Samson?"

"Ugh... yeah. Yeah I'm fine, kid." The parasite grumbled. Both girls took a second to check themselves for any injuries before turning their attention to their defeated opponent. A few scratches and bruises there for the most part, nothing too serious.

"What do you think is her problem?" Ruby asked Filia just as Painwheel was struggling to pick herself up.

"I have no idea." She answered. There was so many questions to ask right now. Why did she attack them? Who is she? Why is she so horrific looking? And most importantly for Filia at least, how does she know her?

"I don't think we should stick around to find out. Let's get out of here before it wakes up!" Samson warned for he really did not feel like taking another hit like that again.

"Samson... who was I? Why does this poor girl know me?" Filia asked her parasite.

"I, er... don't know. Look, it's clearly insane. Don't worry about it. Now let's leave!" The parasite answered rather suspiciously, though neither of the girls seemed to have noticed. One thing that was sure though was that their attacker was starting to shakily stand up on her own two feet agiain. "Dammit! She's getting up! We need to get out of here!"

The two girls looked to each other first and then back down at the poor girl on the floor. Despite how she attacked them, both of them couldn't help but feel there was something horribly wrong with her. It felt as if she was doing this against her will. Eventually, they decided that it probably was best to leave.

"W-wait..."

They both looked back to see that Painwheel standing still right where they left her. Their first reaction was to get ready for another fight, but they soon lowered their guard when it was clear that she wasn't going to attack again.

"Filia... it's me. Carol..." She said.

"Carol?" Ruby and Filia said at once.

Ruby obviously had no business knowing who she could possibly be, but that name did struck a chord in Filia's mind. Her memories were missing but that didn't mean she had lost every single one. Vague glimpses of her past were here and there, and after hearing that name a flash of memories came back to her. Though it was still vague and not very clear, Filia could remember a small and shy girl from a school she may have attended.

"Carol? Is that really you?" Filia took a step towards Painwheel, no longer feeling any fear from her. Before she could do anything meaningful, Painwheel suddenly ran away without a word. "WAIT, CAROL! DON'T GO!" Filia yelled after her, but it was too late. She was gone.

"You know her?" Ruby asked, totally confused by what just happened.

"I... I think I do." Filia answered.

"Great, at least we don't have to fight her again..." Samson sighed in relief, though he knew Filia wanted to do something about that Carol girl. He is literally a part of her head after all. "Well, guess there's no talking you out of this now, huh?"

"Sorry Samson, but we need answers. We're going to follow her." Filia was determined in this new quest of hers. Seems like the Skullgirl could wait, Filia's got some other business to settle. If she could find Carol, then maybe she can get some solid evidence of who she was before she lost her memories and also help Carol from whatever did that to her.

"I'll be right behind you!" Ruby chirped. "That Carol girl looked like she needs some serious help, and it's not like I have anything better to do than follow you around." She smiled. Filia couldn't help but smile right back at her.

"Thanks, Ruby."

"Aww, don't mention it! Besides, what are friends for?" She shrugged.

With this new mission fresh in their minds and a still grumpy Samson, the girls set off toward downtown since that's where Carol ran off to. It also conveniently was where the two girls were heading for even before she attacked, so it's all good when it comes down to it.

* * *

"Now _that's_ more like it!" Venus grinned, pleased that her need for action had been satisfied for now. The sister goddesses were very pleased with how this adventure they helped create was turning out so far, and it was proving to only be more promising as Ruby and Filia continued on.

"I am a little surprised to see how similar it is to Filia's timeline, but I have a feeling that things will take an original turn later on." Aeon said, taking a handful of popcorn. The goddess of time was especially happy with this since it was like a dream come true! It's like she's making a crossover fanfic of the two series come to life...

All they needed now was for Mother to come home with the groceries so they could have some more than just popcorn to snack on.

And as long as Mother never found out what they're doing then things were smooth sailing from here on out. Mother really cared for her dear daughters, but she's the type of mother who really, and I mean _really_ doesn't like it when he daughters do something behind her back. Much less travel out of their domain and steal a girl (with permission) and plant her into their world without her knowledge.

Other than that and they were good.

* * *

 **Somewhere Else, in The Void**

Mother hummed to herself as she made her way home with some freshly bought groceries. A bunch of good ole store bought ingredients from the finest... wherever they're taken from in the multiverse. Seriously, Mother doesn't even know where they come from, but all she knows is that these are some premium ass high quality ingredients for cooking some delicious homemade meals. She even got some snacks for her dearly beloved daughters!

Though she had some doubts about Venus' loyalty, she trusted in them to obey her will and wait patiently for the timelines to converge.

It did make her wonder though about all these other worlds in this multiverse she was currently travelling in. She had no power over any of them except for her own, but what was it like in these other worlds? Who knows, there's literally an infinite amount of possibilities. Maybe one of these days she can go out for a vacation with her daughters to a world with a nice beach or something if Alex let them.

She looked into these other worlds as she passed by them on her trip home. So many interesting things going on while she's stuck waiting for the ultimate event in her own world to happen. One world had giant mechs fighting each other, another had a bunch of young girls using magic to defeat evil, and strangely one showed a bunch of men gathered together with sticks in their hands. All of them except for one were groaning and muttering in defeat while the one man with the shortest stick was dancing in victory.

Mother shook her head and smiled at the silly mortals. Even in other worlds mortals could be just as pointless...

Then, a few moments later, one of them suddenly just came through the portal and into The Void! She cared so little about what they were doing though, that despite being surprised by how a mortal could do something like that, she ignored him.

"Excuse me ma'am?" The mortal man asked only to get no response. He watched her as she continued on her merry way, ignoring him and shit.

The man then looked around and began travelling around The Void himself, though he had no idea where he was going and had no destination set at all. His only mission was to find a girl who had been kidnapped, and he had a _loooooooooooooooot_ of worlds to choose from. He floated around a bit looking at the different worlds before finally deciding to go into one that he remembered being in before. Might as well start here since he met the locals...

* * *

 **Alright, here it is! Next chapter of this!**

 **Looks like you have to wait for the reveal of who the lucky mercenary is though, but at least I know! I will at least tell you that the world he's going into is Kantai Collection since I have another crossover about that on my own. He'll be there only briefly though and he will be revealed next chapter, just wait.**

 **Review Responses:**

 **Madlice in Pyroland: Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy**

 **pre74: Mhmm, I know just what you mean my guy.**

 **Michamya: You're asking a guy who doesn't know what he's doing.**

 **Brandon Vortex: DONE**

 **JanSolo: Fuck my life. It does.**

 **The Mercenary Prime: ^**

 **TheOddPotch: You hope. You keep on hoping.**


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